Remove some of the stealth requirements for thieves (like backstabbing, stealth)
Grizzly
Member Posts: 5
Ever since Tales of the Sword Coast expansion, the thiefs in your party need to stand behind a target in order to perform a sneak attack. I hate that requirement.
It is not in the DnD rules, it was not in the original BG (It was added in the ToTSC update), and worse: NPCs do NOT need it. Why can't the player characters facestab? If they are hidden, it does not matter whether they stab the heart from the front or between the ribs from the back - either way is just as deadly.
Please let us be able to turn that off.
There was another thing: In BG, also ever since TotSC, a thief gains a malus to stealthing when it is not standing in actual shadows. I also wish for this to be removed, as per DnD rules and the original Baldur's Gate (sans tales).
ALso please let us able to turn that off
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It is not in the DnD rules, it was not in the original BG (It was added in the ToTSC update), and worse: NPCs do NOT need it. Why can't the player characters facestab? If they are hidden, it does not matter whether they stab the heart from the front or between the ribs from the back - either way is just as deadly.
Please let us be able to turn that off.
There was another thing: In BG, also ever since TotSC, a thief gains a malus to stealthing when it is not standing in actual shadows. I also wish for this to be removed, as per DnD rules and the original Baldur's Gate (sans tales).
ALso please let us able to turn that off
. 1
Comments
Scanned and cropped right out the 2nd edition handbook (which BG is based on).
Thus while he doesn't technically have to be hidden he must move silently to avoid being noticed, and technically you should only be able to backstab an enemy once per battle. So letting you get multiple stabs is already a massive buff. They're also multiplying your str bonus and any extra passive bonuses, such as the assassin's extra +1, or the Kensief's damage hits, which it shouldn't do...so...yeah...it's already grossly more powerful then it should be.
On the other hand, you should technically be able to BS with any weapon you can wield, but...it's not a huge loss in the long run.
Thus, the penalty you receive when not in a shadow and/or lower light conditions represents having to hide via less then ideal conditions, which under actual DnD you couldn't attempt to hide all nor should you be able to move while in stealth (you could technically sneak around the edge of battle by moving silently alone, but you couldn't walk right up in the enemy's face). So..it's already buffed.
Still, NPCs can still facestab, which is a little bit annoying.
This is why it's possible to get an odd number on a x2 and x4 backstab.
I do believe you get multiplied bonuses for gauntlets of weapons expertise etc. where there is an added damage bonus.
Does anyone have confirmed ideas on how backstab gets multiplied?
** Yeah, str is definitely multiplied. It's super easy to check. Just make a half-orc thief with 19 str and Backstab stuff with a dagger. You'll get a 16-24 damage range, which is consistent with 14 damage from str and a random 2d4.
It rolls damage for each X of the multiplier, it doesn't just roll once and then multiply it. So you roll a x5 backstab with a +2 dagger, it'll roll (1d4+2+str+innate)+(1d4+2+str+innate)+(1d4+2+str+innate)+(1d4+2+str+innate)+(1d4+2+str+innate)= Backstab damage + specialization + extras
Str, enhancement bonus damage, and innate class damage bonuses (such as the +1 from an assassin or the level based +damage from a kensai) are multiplied. Specialization and other damage (such as from the gauntlets), I'm not 100% sure yet, I'll check later. Extra damage, such as elemental damage, or the extra piercing on the staff of the ram +6 (1d6+12, +1d4 pierce) isn't multiplied.